HB 845 provides increased penalties for cities that do not provide promised services to residents being annexed against their will as well as a fair process for providing water and sewer.

The “cost of water and sewer” will now land more squarely on cities. In the past, cities were obligated to extend water and sewer lines into newly annexed areas, but they could require residents to pick up some or all of that cost. Now the financial burden will be on the cities.

Other key parts of the bill include:

It provides for a protest petition for those about to be annexed. If 60 percent of the property owners object to the annexation, they can stop it cold for three years.

It lays out new timelines for annexation designed to give greater noticed to those who cities wish to bring into the corporate limits.

We believe this bill gives a full and fair voice to property owners that for years have been abused by money hungry city bureaucrats. We think most forced annexations will end as a result of this bill and that all property owners now have a real voice.